51 pages • 1-hour read
Seven Years In Tibet
A modern alternative to SparkNotes and CliffsNotes, SuperSummary offers high-quality Study Guides with detailed chapter summaries and analysis of major themes, characters, and more.
Introduction-Chapter 2Chapter Summaries & Analyses
Content Warning: This section of the guide includes discussion of racism, graphic violence, and death.
Introduction Summary
Adventurer and journalist Peter Fleming introduces Harrer’s memoir of his time in Tibet by providing historical context for Harrer’s unique experience. He describes Harrer as someone who was brave and of strong character, and it was because of this strong character that he was accepted into Tibet.
Tibet had long since been a subject of fascination for Europeans, but was largely inaccessible and hidden from the world. Few westerners managed to see it before it was taken over by China in 1950, and Harrer not only saw it, but spent years living there in the city of Lhasa. He tutored and befriended the adolescent Dalai Lama and left only when China forced many of Tibet’s inhabitants to India.
Fleming paints Harrer’s position as one of seeing Tibet “from below,” because unlike most European travelers, he did not go there from a place of privilege. Instead, Harrer was fleeing a prisoner of war camp in India, and arrived in Tibet with nothing.
Preface Summary
Heinrich Harrer explains the inspiration behind his decision to become a mountaineer. As a child, he admired men who pushed their limits and the limits of human accomplishment, and he wanted to do the same.
During university, he spent summers climbing and winters skiing. While he excelled in skiing, Harrer eventually decided on scaling Nanga Parbat in the Himalayas. To gain the attention needed to be invited on an expedition, Harrer became the first (with a team) to climb the Eiger mountain in the Alps in 1938. Months later, he was invited to the Himalayas with three other men. Harrer became instantly enthralled by the majesty and mystique of Asia, its cultures, and its landscape, and he found himself permanently attached to it.
Chapter 1 Summary: “Internment”
During the expedition in the Himalayas, England declared war on Germany, and Harrer and the other men with him were captured in northern India. They were taken to a small camp at first and later transported to a larger prisoner-of-war (POW) camp in the valley below the Himalayas. While Harrer had always planned to escape, being near the mountains gave him a new idea: to cross through them into Tibet, and find safety there.
Harrer teamed up with an Italian sergeant named Marchese, and they created a plan to escape. Harrer spent months assessing the guards’ actions, gathering supplies, and waiting for the perfect moment. When the time came, he and Marchese used a ladder and some barbed wire cutters to climb out and over one of the shelters that sat along the fencing. They could hear the guards behind them as they disappeared into the jungle, and ran to the point of exhaustion.
Harrer and Marchese spent their days hiding and resting, and their nights wading through the swamps and trees of the jungle. Many of the people they saw along the way did not see them, but Harrer still dyed his hair black and tinted his skin brown in order to avoid being questioned. Some of the people they met along the way were even helpful, cooking food for them or showing them the way.
Harrer and Marchese eventually found the Ganges river, a sacred and spiritual landmark that was also the location of a common pilgrimage to its source in the mountains. Harrer was trained in climbing and could handle the hunger and exhaustion, but Marchese grew increasingly thin and weak.
Eventually, Harrer and Marchese came to a swamp in a village called Nelang that appeared impossible to cross. They hid in the peaks above and watched as pilgrims made their way across successfully, and soon realized they would need to wait for the water to be low. The next morning, they began to cross along some tree trunks, but Marchese fell into the water and could not bring himself to go on. He pulled out his sack and began setting up camp, and some Indian men noticed his European belongings.
Harrer and Marchese were exposed and taken back to the POW camp from which they had originally escaped. They were treated with dignity and kindness along the way, and Harrer was scarcely recognizable when he returned to the camp.
Chapter 2 Summary: “Escape”
Harrer began planning another escape. This time, he teamed up with Peter Aufschnaiter, Bruno Treipel, Sattler, and Hans Kopp. They adorned themselves in traditional Indian clothing and painted their skin, and were able to walk out of the camp without raising any suspicion. By the time the guards realized someone had escaped, the group was long gone into the jungle. Harrer then parted from the group and went his own way, determined not to be held back again. He encountered apes, a leopard, and a bear along the way.
Harrer headed along the same route as last time, and when he reached Nelang, he found the four men there. Sattler became ill and had to turn back, but the others joined together and passed through a camp called Tirpani. The Ganges river gradually turned into smaller brooks and streams. On May 17th, 1944, the group reached the Tsangchokla Pass and entered Tibet, where they knew they could not be arrested by the English. They reached a deserted valley and continued further into the mountains the next day.
Kasapuling was the first Tibetan village that the group reached, and the people there struck Harrer as unfriendly. The villagers declined to sell one of their goats until Harrer and the others threatened them; they ate it for supper that night. The group then ventured toward Dushang, where they saw their first Tibetan monastery. Only a few monks still lived there, and the governor demanded that the group head back the way they came.
Harrer and the others proposed consulting a monk in the nearby village of Thuling, but neither the monk nor anyone else there would help or allow them to continue through. Harrer and the others had no choice but to agree to go back toward Shangtse and were offered food and donkeys on the condition that they would do so. After one last night in Tibet, they crossed the border back into India, but with no plans to stay there.
Introduction-Chapter 2 Analysis
In the Introduction, Fleming asserts that Harrer saw Tibet “from below” rather than “from above,” unlike typical Western travelers who look down on other cultures from a position of assumed superiority. However, Fleming himself demonstrates a Western-centric attitude when he labels Tibetan culture “full of flaws and anachronisms” (xii), suggesting it is outdated and no longer fit for modern society. In declaring that it is full of “anachronisms,” Fleming suggests that industrialized Western cultures are the only legitimate ones, implying that all others should model themselves upon the West instead of retaining their own unique systems and values. Fleming’s biased assessment reflects an important criticism surrounding the memoir: Harrer’s (and, in this edition, Fleming’s) tendency to treat Tibet as an exotic “other” that can be either romanticized or denigrated into a stereotype, depriving the account of nuance and complexity.
This otherizing tendency also becomes apparent early on in Harrer’s own writing. Despite Harrer’s later insistence in the memoir on The Value of Cultural Encounter and Adaptation, his interactions with Indian and Tibetan peoples in these early chapters suggest an attitude of superiority. Harrer refers to his companion as, “my Indian friend” (24), instead of giving him a name or any other personal attributes; he also describes Tibetans as being “dark‑skinned and shifty‑eyed” (27, emphasis added), with “shifty-eyed” in particular carrying negative connotations of cunning and untrustworthiness.
Most problematically, Harrer even threatens villagers to secure one of their goats, all while accusing them of being unfairly “unfriendly” toward foreigners like himself. This quick resorting to threats and aggression reveals a power dynamic in which Harrer places himself above the locals, demanding that they cater to his needs whether they wish to or not. He also freely notes that he and the other men are increasingly unwelcome the further they go into Tibet, which had notably strict isolationist policies at the time, yet they continue on anyway. Their aggressive treatment of the locals and their determination to cross forbidden territory without permission thus demonstrate a sense of privilege and entitlement.
Harrer presents himself as someone willing to take risks and push himself to succeed, introducing the key theme of Personal Transformation Through Adversity. His opening account of his childhood dreams of pushing the boundaries of human achievement are meant to foreshadow his later exploits, suggesting that he has always been an exceptionally driven person. In recounting his failed escape attempt from the POW camp, he emphasizes that this failure did not deter him: Instead, he decided to try again, willing to once more take the risk. In forcing himself to push through his discouragement and attempt another escape, Harrer succeeds in securing his freedom.
Harrer also presents himself as starting to undergo a personal transformation as he journeys through the landscapes of India and Tibet, foreshadowing the greater moments of self-discovery that he will experience later in the memoir. The journey along the Ganges River mirrors the Hindu pilgrimage, symbolizing purification and a spiritual journey Harrer unknowingly embraces. Upon returning to the POW camp after his failed first escape, Harrer notes he is unrecognizable, marking early changes in his personality and mindset.
In a similar vein, his passage through the mountains begins to transform him through his encounters with Tibetan culture and spirituality, while also introducing the theme of Nature as Barrier and Sanctuary. While the men struggle with the grueling conditions of the trek and what Harrer calls “an interesting but oddly hostile world” (29) around them, Harrer also experiences moments of beauty and tranquility. An example of this is when Harrer notes “the terraced monastery with its gold‑pointed roof‑pinnacles gleaming in the sunlight and the waters of the Sutlej flowing below” (30), suggesting a landscape suffused with religious feeling that has begun to intrigue him.
Harrer’s use of language is clear and straightforward. He claims that his intention is to offer clear reporting, explaining, “I shall content myself with the unadorned facts” (xv, emphasis added). It is important to note, however, that as a memoir, the book is not a repository of “unadorned facts,” but one man’s personal and deeply-subjective experience. Harrer also refrains from discussing his emotional state unless he is discussing his own direct experience, only occasionally relying on more poetic elements such as when he writes, “On this expedition to Nanga Parbat I succumbed to the magic of the Himalayas” (xv, emphasis added). Harrer thus regularly emphasizes the beauty of the landscape, while the “magic” that he feels suggests that he is about to discover many new and memorable things.
Unlock all 51 pages of this Study Guide
Get in-depth, chapter-by-chapter summaries and analysis from our literary experts.
- Grasp challenging concepts with clear, comprehensive explanations
- Revisit key plot points and ideas without rereading the book
- Share impressive insights in classes and book clubs